Last year I was asked to look at cleaning a modern Encaustic tiled floor at a property in Ampthill with a striking design. Many people are drawn to the luxury look of encaustic tiling which are often featured in high end magazines so I thought it would be worth sharing.
It’s absolutely a beautiful type of flooring, however, as our client from Ampthill realised, the tiles must be installed by a professional who understands their makeup. Unlike ceramics they are made from cement and are porous and need to be sealed. In this case the floor had only recently been laid and the tiler had not managed remove all the grout haze before sealing. Consequently, the rough haze attracted dirt making the floor look less than desirable.
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Cleaning and Renovating an Encaustic Tiled Hallway
To remove the Grout Haze, it was first necessary to remove the sealer which was done using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. This is a powerful stripper that is safe to use on tile and stone. The solution was sprayed onto the tiles and and then left to dwell for about ten minutes before being scrubbed into the floor with a coarse 200-grit diamond pad. This effectively cleaned the floor removing the sealer and the grout haze.
The next step was to rinse away the soiling from the cleaning and give the tiles a deep clean for which I used a high-pressure truck mounted spinner tool. The tool applies water at high pressure to the floor whilst simultaneously extracting the waste back to a tank on the vehicle leaving it clean and almost dry.
Sealing an Encaustic Tiled Hallway
Once the tiles were completely dry, they were then sealed with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is a fully breathable impregnating sealer, it provides water and stain repellence and adds robust protection and enhances the overall beauty.
For aftercare cleaning of any sealed floor, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild yet effective tile and grout cleaner. This is a pH neutral product which ensures the newly applied sealer isn’t stripped off which can be the problem with the stronger floor cleaning products you often find in supermarkets.
Source: Professional Floor Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service near Ampthill Bedfordshire
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